On Oct. 7, The Commonwealth Fund hosted a webinar on Pre-Existing Condition Insurance Plans, part of a series of webinars on realizing health reform's potential cosponored by Women in Government. The webinar addressed the Affordable Care Act provision on establishing temporary high-risk pools, also called Pre-Existing Condition Insurance Plans (PCIPs). PCIPS are designed to quickly make health insurance available to uninsured individuals with pre-existing conditions, many of whom previously had been denied coverage.

Speakers examined eligibility, benefits, premiums and cost-sharing, enrollment and outreach, and oversight of the PCIP programs, as well as plan variability. The speaker's presenations are now available for downloading. An audio recording is also available as an mp3. View the archived webinar here.

Speakers: Richard Popper, deputy director for insurance programs, Office of Consumer Information and Insurance Oversight, U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services; Jean P. Hall, Ph.D., associate research professor, University of Kansas and the author of a new Commonwealth Fund report on PCIPs; Amie Goldman, CEO, Health Insurance Risk-Sharing Plan Authority in Wisconsin and chair of the National Association of State Comprehensive Health Insurance Plans; and Deborah Armstrong, executive director, New Mexico Medical Insurance Pool

Mission

The mission of The Commonwealth Fund is to promote a high-performing health care system that achieves better access, improved quality, and greater efficiency, particularly for society's most vulnerable, including low-income people, the uninsured, minority Americans, young children, and elderly adults.